Benjamin, Ditusa pitch Saints to sweep of Royals

Updated: May 7, 2011 8:21PM

ST. CHARLES — When the calendar hits May, St. Charles East baseball coach Dave Haskins expects big things from his top pitchers. On Saturday, he got exactly what he was looking for.

Left handers Wes Benjamin and Dan Ditusa each tossed a complete game as the Saints beat Larkin 5-0 and 10-1 in an Upstate Eight Conference River Division doubleheader.

With the two victories St. Charles East (17-6, 13-2) stays tied in the loss column for first place with Streamwood in the UEC River standings.

“They each threw very well today,” Haskins said of his pitchers. “In May we ask our top horses to throw complete games and get it done for us, and they did that today.”

Benjamin, a Kansas recruit, mowed down the Royals in Game 1, surrendering just one hit while striking out six to increase his record to 7-0.

Meanwhile, the Saints offense did just enough against Larkin starter Cody Wahl (0-2). Tony Rallo hit a sacrifice groundout to put East up 1-0 before Johnny Hondlik ripped an RBI double in the second inning to make it 2-0. Jordan Hayes had an RBI single in the fourth and Hondlik picked up another RBI on a flyout later in the inning.

Sophomore Niko Morado provided the lone Royals hit, sending a ball deep into the gap in right-center field during the top of the fifth.

Joe Hoscheit (2-for-4), Rallo (2-for-3) and Henri Desrosiers (2-for-3) led East’s seven-hit attack.

The Saints wasted little time getting on the board in Game 2. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, Desrosiers, the No. 6 hitter, belted a grand slam to right-center over the 345-feet sign to give Ditusa an early 4-0 cushion.

Desrosiers added an RBI double in the fifth to finish 2-for-3 with five RBIs.

“I’ve just been seeing the ball well lately and looking to drive it into the gaps — right-center and left-center,” Desrosiers said. “I’ve been getting ahead in the count and on that home run I was looking for a first-pitch fastball and got it.”

The Royals (9-15, 3-13) scored their only run of the day in the top of the fifth when Victor Saldana hit a bloop RBI single over the second baseman’s head to score Trevor Whitehead and cut the lead to 4-1. Whitehead and Miguel Villafane were the only others to record a hit for Larkin.

“You have to credit their pitchers,” said Larkin coach Matt Esterino. “You know Benjamin is the real deal, but (Ditusa) did a really good job too. It’s no secret what they were doing. They were coming up on us at our hands, and we didn’t give them a reason to change what they were doing.”

East broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth against Larkin starter Kyle Newquist (1-4). Hondlik and Desrosiers each had an RBI hit, and Ryan Shaffrey came through with a two-run double to left to put the Saints up 8-1. They added two more runs on a throwing error in the infield.

“We lacked timely hitting in the first game, but definitely had it in the second game,” Haskins said. “We had some guys come up with some big two-out, two-strike hitting and we played really well.”

Newquist pitched six innings for Larkin, allowing eight earned runs with three strikeouts, four walks and two hit batters. A highlight for Larkin was its infield turning three double plays on the day.

Ditusa allowed one earned run, struck out nine and walked two to improve his record to 4-2.

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